Monday, October 28, 2013

Hag of the Wind by Laura J. Underwood: Book Blitz and Guest Post

About the Celtic feel of The Hag of the Wind’s setting

My characters living in Keltora are inspired by Scottish and Irish folklore. I count myself a fair to middling scholar when it comes to the Celtic World, and most of what interested me were the folk tales and fairy tales such as the Red Branch and the Tain bo Cuailnge (literally, The Cattle Raid of Cooley). I read a lot of the old "collections" of tales that were gathered in the 1700s (many of which were actually made up by the man who wrote them or retold in his own way), but I also spent time sifting through older encounters in poetry and balladry. The true tales are almost lost in time because the Celts did not write down things so much as passed them from generation to generation as oral traditions. I spent some time in Scotland, walking around the highlands and visiting remote places, and many of those places are reflected in my stories. Of course, being born and raised in East Tennessee, I have hiked mountains and valleys and seen a lot of scenery that reminds me of Scotland. My ancestors who settled in the remote areas were of Scottish and English descent (the ones who were not actually "native" to the area, that is) and possessed a strong oral tradition. So in some ways, writing the Celtic themes into my stories is just my way of honoring my ancestry. Writers are, in a way, a reflection of what they experience, and I am pleased to say many of my walks around heather-covered moors and climbs across rough-cut bens has given me so much to write about.

Ginny Ni’Cooley just wants a
peaceful, quiet life.But quiet is hard
to maintain when one’s mentor is a ghost who died a lush and a lech.And peace isn’t to be found when the locals
expect their local mageborn to banish monsters and help infertile couples
conceive.

It’s that last bit that is posing
the most trouble for Ginny of late.Marman the pig-herder--once an unwelcome suitor--now wants Ginny to help
him and his wife conceive, and doesn’t believe her when she says it’s beyond
her powers.

When the couple try to solve
their problem on their own, they manage to unleash a demon imprisoned years
ago.Now, their actions have placed all
of Connorscroft in danger and no matter how much peace and quiet Ginny wants,
she’s got to find a way to defeat the demon before it destroys her village, the
villagers and makes good on its threat to kill her.

"The Hag of the Wind

She makes such a din

While blawing aboot the lea…

She summons the gale,

And the rain and the hail,

And rattles the windows with glee…"

Auld Liam sat on the steps of Talon's
Tavern, singing that song at the top of his lungs as Ginny Ni'Cooley walked
briskly past on her way to the baker's shop.

"Howt awa," Manus
MacGreeley wind whispered to her ears."'Tis not even noon, and Auld Liam is already deep in his
cups."

Ginny frowned and ignored the mage
spirit of her former mentor.She knew
better than to answer him when there were so many about.The folk who lived in Conorscroft thought
that she had banished Manus' spirit long ago.And while he was wise enough to stay invisible, she just wished he would
not speak.What if someone heard
him?It would do her reputation as the
protector of this small hamlet no end of ill.

For that matter, she wished that Auld
Liam would stop his off key wailing.Thistle howled along bouncing up and down enthusiastically on the end of
his tether.At least Thistle and I are
alike in mind that Auld Liam has a voice like a crow, she thought.

The old man grinned, revealing his
one remaining tooth, and howled back, causing a number of the folk in the
market square to turn and stare.

Ginny winced and hurried on, dragging
Thistle.She should have left the moor
terrier locked in the cottage while she traded her eggs for bread, but the last
time she did so, he found her store of dried beef and ate until he looked like
he would pop.Thistle snapped fiercely
at the old man who just laughed and shouted, "Yer dog has nae ear fae good
music, Mistress Ni'Cooley."

Ginny wanted to say that neither did
Auld Liam.Instead, she sought distance
in the hopes of getting Thistle to calm down before they reached the bakery.

"Uh, oh," Manus
whispered."Better make haste,
lass."

"What?" Ginny said before
she thought better.She looked over her
shoulder expectantly.

Two figures were practically running
across the square towards her now.One
was a tall, willowy young man with pale hair, dull squinty eyes and a pocked,
pasty face streaked with mud.The other
was a short stocky woman with a florid face who heaved so muchher breath fluttered the ragged strands of
salt and pepper hair.

Horns, Ginny thought.It was Marman MacSty and his wife Wycie
Ni'Clachan, the last two people in Conorscroft that she wanted to deal with at
the moment.

Ginny tried not to catch their eyes,
but it was too late.Marman waved an arm
and shouted loudly, "Ginny, Ginny!Wait!"

She grimaced, crossed her arms as she
stopped, and turned to face them fully, wearing her sternest frown.

"Yes?" she asked stiffly,
hoping they would remain downwind and save her the trouble of having to use
magic to change it.Marman mucked pigs
for the young Laird MacFarr, and the stench of the sty was always on him.And since he and Wycie had wed over a year
ago, the odor clung to her as well.

"I need that potion I asked ye
about," Marman said.

Ginny frowned."Marman, I don't make potions.I have told you this before."

"But, we wants a baby,"
Marman said."A little-un ta carry
on me name.I know you can help us.Master MacFarr says that's what mageborn do
best—help folks with things they need."

He reached for Wycie's hand as he
spoke.Wycie glared at Ginny as though
measuring the mage woman's worth in a fight.Ginny could not help but wonder what she had done to make Wycie despise
her so.

It was on the tip of Ginny's tongue
to say that some folks should not have children, but she stopped short of
speaking those thoughts aloud.Without
softening her expression, she looked at Marman and shook her head.

"Marman, I have also told you
that I cannot make an infertile woman or man fertile.That is something that only the gods can
change.Now, I really must be on my
way."

"But you have to help us, mage
woman!" Wycie suddenly snarled."You have to, you have to, you have to!"

"Wycie," Marman said as
though trying to sooth her."Wheesht, woman, don't be so rude to Mistress Ginny…"

Wycie jerked free of Marman and fixed
Ginny with such a fiery stare of rage that Ginny took a step back, uncertain as
to what Wycie might do while angry.Thistle growled a warning.Wycie
made fists of her hands, pumping them up and down like a small child having a
tantrum.

"It is not a matter of
obligation, of which I have none," Ginny said."It is a matter of ability.I cannot help you, Wycie.I'm sorry, but no magic can."

"She lies!" Wycie said, and
with a shout, she stooped down and scooped up a clod that resembled horse
droppings."Mageborn can do
anything.She lies because she doesn't
think we're worthy!"Wycie flung
the clod at Ginny and shrieked.

"Adhar clach!" Ginny
hissed, barely in time.The clod smacked
into a shield of air just inches from Ginny's face and splattered harmlessly.

"You have to make me a
baby!" Wycie screamed and flung herself at Ginny.

Thistle lunged at the woman, snapping
his jaws.It was all Ginny could do to
hold the moor terrier back, much less cast a spell in her own defense.Fortunately, Marman must have realized that
attacking the only mageborn for several leagues around Conorscroft would not be
wise.He threw his arms around Wycie's
middle and stopped her flight.She
continued to scream like a beansidhe and flailed the air with her fists.Ginny saw small stones at her feet jumping up
and down as though reacting to Wycie's rage.She flicked mage senses at the pig man's wife and felt a faint hint of
latent mage essence laced strongly with the element of stone. She can't be
mageborn, Ginny thought, though in truth, many Keltorans possessed a hint of
the blood in them, left over from ancient time.It just did not always manifest when they matured.

Ginny turned on her heels and fled
through the thickening crowd of onlookers.She had not expected so many to be in from the fields this early in the
day, but there they were, gathered like carrion crows watching a carcass for
signs of life.

"I'll make you pay!" Wycie
wailed."Make her pay!Liar!Bogie woman!All mageborn are
liars!"

Ginny made a mental note to herself
to take the long path back to Tamhasg Wood to avoid another confrontation with
Wycie.

Laura J. Underwood has been
writing and publishing as far back as she can remember.Her earliest stories were selected by Marion
Zimmer Bradley for the SWORD AND SORCERESS anthologies, and her first novel ARD
MAGISTER came out in 2002 from Yard Dog Press.Since then she has seen the publication of nearly 300 short stories,
novels, novellas and other stuff.She
currently lives in East Tennessee where she works as a librarian.

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